Tag: film

There are such treasures hiding in the stacks, and really, they don’t make journal covers like they used to. I coincidentally found these journals the same week that the Russian Film Symposium is happening in Pittsburgh, so I knew it was fated that I should share some of the images.

Overall it was pretty weird and terrible, but the first few minutes were some of the most visually interesting I’ve seen in awhile, thanks to the quick cuts and linked imagery. When I say the movie was terrible, though, I mean it really was a disappointment. Not scary, and really there was nothing to the plot and the characters. Pauline Kael has an excellent (in my opinion) review of it, published in the New Yorker:Pauline Kael, The Current Cinema, “Labyrinths,” The New Yorker, December 24, 1973, p. 68.

Unfortunately I can’t give any quotes because I don’t have access to any electronic version, and the book I read it in is at home.

150 Educational films [May Subd Geog] [sp2001000481]
* 680 This heading is used as a topical heading for works about films that are intended to impart knowledge and information, including those for classroom viewing. Works about films designed to impart skills or techniques to general audiences, typically in a “how‑to” manner, are entered under Instructional films. When used as topical headings they are subdivided by the appropriate geographic, topical, and/or form subdivisions.

150 Precarious employment [May Subd Geog] [sp2009008937]
680 Here are entered works on labor that is poorly paid, unregulated, and lacks job
security.
450 UF Employment, Precarious
550 BT LaborGus Powell – from “Voetganger Amsterdam” series
for now I went with a more literal interpretation of “precarious”.

150 Crime in music [sp2009009410]
680 Here are entered works on the depiction of crime in musical compositions. General works on the relationship between crime and music are entered under Music and crime.
550 BT Music
681 Notes under Music and crime

150 Landscapes in music [Not Subd Geog] [sp2009009236]
680 Here are entered works on the depiction of natural landscapes in musical
compositions.
550 BT Music

Mood films [Not Subd Geog] [sp2008025676]
680 This heading is used as a genre/form heading for films that emphasize a mood or
atmosphere rather than a plot.
555 BT Fiction films
The record for the above heading indicates that there’s a genre of Japanese fiction film to which the term “mood film” has been applied. A friend suggested that something like Wavelength might be considered a “mood film”. However, it also seems to be a common term in the advertising field, where it refers to things like this. According to NTC’s Dictionary of Advertising, 2nd ed, a “mood commercial” is a “commercial message designed to establish a particular atmosphere.” Or perhaps a commercial that encourages you to match your fridge to your mood?

I’m including this next one not because I’m a Potter fan, but because I find it bizarre and amusing that there was probably a discussion (or a lively debate?) about whether Hogwarts should be considered a place or an organization. I guess imaginary places are as worthy of accurate subject headings as real places, or, um, organizations…?
150 Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Imaginary place) CANCEL
(C) 150 Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Imaginary organization) [Not Subd Geog] [sp 00002633]
450 UF Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Imaginary place) [EARLIER FORM
OF HEADING]

Last night on my local PBS station, WQED, I stumbled upon the documentary “Documenting the Face of America: Roy Stryker and the FSA/OWI Photographers” (written & directed by Jeanine Isabel Butler). What drew me in immediately was the number of photographs being shown in this program. In the words of the Library of Congress, these photographs are “a landmark in the history of documentary photography”, and it was great to see so many of them presented on-screen while learning about the political and social environment in which they were created.

I took a photographic archives course over the summer, and was impressed by how all the archives students seemed very familiar with the FSA/OWI story, right down to details about how certain photographs had been modified, damaged, preserved etc. I guess it’s understandable that archives students would know more about this than library students, since this collection is probably the type of thing aspiring photo archivists dream about. This documentary was especially nice to watch as a librarian, because it left the viewer with a strong impression of the importance of visual history, and libraries’ & archives’ role in preserving/providing access to that history. It also highlighted Stryker’s insistence that “the file” be kept together when the project was ending; scattering it would greatly reduce its value as documentary evidence of the period, and the strength of its social & political statement. The point was made, on multiple occasions, that many politicians and members of the general public disapproved of the FSA/OWI photography project, and thought the photographs were “stupid”. How fortunate that the Library of Congress was (and has been) able to provide such a good home for these far from “stupid” materials. It’s nice to see such a thoughtful documentary film emphasize the contributions of libraries/archives and the people who care for them.